Revision as of 00:12, 8 April 2005

Contents

Conditional Access Module (CAM)

A Common interface (CI) module can be used to house many different peripheral devices, such as a modem, additional memory, games consoles, or more usually a Conditional Access Module (CAM) - sometimes referred to as a Common Interface Module (CIM, CI module). The CAM provides space for one or two smartcards (depending on the CI) supplied by the broadcaster. In theory, andy CAM that complies with the CI specifications should fit in a CI module, but whether or not you can get it to work with VDR is a different matter...

Encryption systems

There are various different encryption systems, which are not mutually compatible. The CAM must be suitable for the system you wish to decrypt - often a CAM is only suitable for one system, while other CAMs can be used with a number of systems (e.g. the Joker CAM).

Below are examples of encryption systems (their use and sample broadcasters are given in brackets):

The best-known CAM is probably in the Alphacrypt CAM, which works with VDR. Unfortunately CAMs are not usually particularly cheap, costing between 60 and 180 euros (the Alphacrypt CAM is at the top end of this price range). Obviously you can sometimes obtain them more cheaply on the second-hand market.

Mascom now produces an Alphacrypt Light CAM, which works well with VDR (tested with vdr-1.3.16 and Fujitsu-Siemens DVB-C PCI with CI) and KabelDeutschland Digital or Premiere zusammenarbeitet. The high-street price for this CAM is 66 euros.

It is imperitive that you find out in advance whether the CAM is compatible with your broadcaster and VDR.

List of supported Conditional Access Modules (CAMs)

Note: no guarantee is given for the accuracy of this information, since it has been compiled by many users! The accuracy of the list is dependent on user updates, so please update it with your experience of unlisted CAMs.